Two aperitivo + talk events – Florence Nov 29+30, 2013

The last weekend in November, when the weather is cold and rainy and it’s tempting to stay inside, is going to be an active and social one for me and many people in Florence. I am participating in two events and want to invite you to come along!

If you take photos with your phone and put them on Facebook, and nobody “likes” them, you’d better come to the Yelp Smartography event on Saturday November 30 at 5pm.

This FREE event kicks off at 5pm, when the attendees will pick from four workshops to improve their “smartography” or iphoneography (they called it the former name to be android-inclusive). My session is called “how to take photos that don’t suck” and will focus on composition and practical tips to do just that. There is a session led by Instagrammers Italia’s local section on the best ways to use their platform, another on portrait photography (with a phone) using a light set, and one on taking decent photos of food. All sessions will be held in Italian but international attendees are most welcome – there are a lot of “us foreigners” in the friendly group that makes up the core Yelp community.

After some practical application of the tips given in each workshop, we move on to an excellent free aperitivo offered by sponsors that Yelp has put together. To sign up, apply to attend on Yelp.

Also – there’s a food photography contest that runs until November 25 – you can win a dinner or a Photoshop course! Take a look at the link above to find out how to participate.

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Tourism and technology go hand in hand, and the best ways to mix the two are a constant source of discussion, especially in tourism-driven economies like Florence. This is the topic of a day-long conference (Nov 28 at Le Murate) and Instagram walk, and also an evening aperitivo and casual talk on Friday Nov 29, 2013, at 6pm at The Club House.

A Florence-based association called Sharing Europe is a partner in an EU project called Bridge the Gap to promote the use of ICT in tourism, culture, communication and learning. They’ve organized the Florence days of the project, that involves exchanging ideas between the participating EU countries.

The panel includes various people who are active in promoting tourism online or through apps, including Elena Farinelli of the famous Italian blog “io amo firenze“. I will talk very briefly about cultural tourism and technology, including mentioning my two recent apps – Uffizi and Inferno.

The talk is free, the aperitivo costs 7 euros payable directly at the bar. Sign up on Eventbrite.